Apple’s iPadOS 27 beta downloads briefly included two unsupported iPad Pro models

Apple briefly listed iPadOS 27 beta 1 restore images for two older iPad Pro models before removing them from its developer downloads page. Here are the details.

Apple adjusts iPadOS 27 restore image list

When Apple announced iPadOS 27, the company said the following devices would be compatible with the new system:

• iPad Pro (M4 and later)
• iPad Pro 12.9‑inch (4th generation and later)
• iPad Pro 11‑inch (2nd generation and later)
• iPad Air 13-inch (M2 and later)
• iPad Air 11-inch (M2, M3, and M4)
• iPad Air 11-inch (4th generation and later)
• iPad (A16)
• iPad (9th generation and later)
• iPad mini (A17 Pro)
• iPad mini (6th generation)

Apple’s Developer website, however, included a restore image link for “11-in. iPad Pro (1st and 2nd generations), 12.9-in. iPad Pro (3rd and 4th generations),” even though two of those models were not included in the official iPadOS 27 compatibility list. Interestingly, the file name itself also referenced those unsupported models.

9to5Mac reached out to Apple to ask whether the restore link had been listed by mistake, or whether the official compatibility list was incomplete, as was recently the case with watchOS 27 and Apple Watch Series 9. We also tried installing the IPSW on a 3rd-generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro, but the installation failed.

Although Apple has not responded, the company has since removed the restore link from its Developer website, while leaving the official compatibility list unchanged.

That makes this look less like the Apple Watch Series 9 situation, where users quickly reported being able to install watchOS 27, and more like a simple oversight. Instead, one possible explanation is that these iPad Pro models had been grouped together in previous iPadOS releases, and that same grouping may have been carried over by mistake.

(h/t: Willian Max)

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